Steve Besford
Steve Besford is an actor, playwright and screenwriter based in Leeds. He came to screenwriting from a background in acting and twenty years teaching drama, and describes his work as period drama and location pieces that evoke classic cinematic visuals.
Screenplays #
Three of his feature screenplays are listed publicly, each with artwork he has made to pitch it. None of them has been produced, so these are posters for films that do not yet exist: the Cannes laurel on The Lulworth Mermaid is part of the design rather than a festival selection.
The Lulworth Mermaid #
A period drama in which, in early 19th century Dorset, “a young girl seeks to convince a village that her sister who mysteriously disappeared has become a mermaid, despite growing sinister evidence to the contrary”. He has also described it as a coming of age drama.
Pitch artwork for The Lulworth Mermaid
Out of Leadville #
A western in which, in late 19th century Colorado, “a poor city girl struggles to survive when her terminally ill father sells her into marriage with a mountain-dwelling loner escaping a traumatic past”.
Pitch artwork for Out of Leadville
Golden Acre #
A period piece set in the interwar years, following a playboy heir to the family construction business as he tries to save his father’s dream of an amusement park in the suburbs of Leeds.
Pitch artwork for Golden Acre, built around a period postcard of the park
A fourth feature, Red Fell, is described as a medieval island survival drama.
Recognition #
His work has attracted interest through the BBC’s Open Call, which drew a favourable producer report on Red Fell, and The Lulworth Mermaid has been longlisted and placed as a semi-finalist. In the Stage 32 screenwriting contests he was a quarter-finalist in the Feature Drama Screenwriting Contest in 2025, and a semi-finalist in the Female Driven Screenwriting Contest in 2024.
This page is drawn from Steve Besford’s public Stage 32 profile. This web site has no connection with him.